~irregular uploads, sorry!~
______________
upcoming chapters:
- Death positivity ✨
- Alternative or eco-friendly ways to...be dead.
- Saponification, mummification, water corpses.
- Body farms/ donating your body to science
(I'll be working at writi...
What is (1)saponification/(2)adipocere? (1)Saponification is defined as the conversion of fatty acids into soap through hydrolysis, creating glycerin. (2) Adipocere, also known as corpse wax, grave wax, mortuary wax, is a wax like organic substance formed by the anaerobic bacterial hydrolysis of fat tissue, such as body fat in corpses. In it's formation, putrefaction is replaced by a permanent firm cast of fatty tissues, internal organs and the face.
How does this occur? The transformation of fats to adipocere happens best in environments with an absence of oxygen and high levels of moisture; such as in wet ground, in a sealed casket or in the bottom of a lake. It can occur to both embalmed and not-embalmed bodies.
How long does it take for this process to occur? The decomposition of fatty tissues starts almost immediately after death, but the formation time of adipocere may vary from two weeks to one or two months. The time it takes depends on factors such as temperature, embalming, how the corpse was burried/the conditions, and what material surrounds the corpse.
What does it look like? Adipocere is a crumbly, water insoluble material consisting mainly of saturated fatty acids. Depending on whether it was formed from white or brown body fat, adipocere is either grayish white or a tan colour. In corpses, the firm cast of adipocere allows some estimation of body shape and facial features, and injuries are often well preserved.
One of the most well known "soap mummies"
The soap lady, Mütter museum.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
General information about "the soap lady: The Soap Lady is the name given to a woman whose body was exhumed in Philadelphia in 1875. The specimen is unique because a fatty substance called adipocere encases the remains. Adipocere formation is not common, but it may form in alkaline, warm, airless environments, such as the one in which the Soap Lady was buried.
__________________________________ That's all for this chapter! I hope you found it at least a tad interesting. Welllll if you did, drop a vote! Till next time 👋🏻
